Posts Tagged ‘Colorado Art Educators Conference’

In October I taught a Master Teacher’s workshop at the Colorado Art Educator’s Conference in Breckenridge, Colorado. The one thing that made this workshop different from all the workshops I’ve taught is I tried to cut off the top of my thumb right before the workshop started. As usual, I was a little nervous before the workshop started, running around the last 30 minutes before the workshop trying to get all the odds and ends done before the class started, as I was cutting contact paper for everyone to use to ran the Xacto knife over my thumb and it cut right through my nail and down the corner of my thumb, not a pretty site. Blood was gushing from my thumb and I was terrified to look at it. I had a trail of blood from the classroom to the bathroom. Luckily my teacher friends from Denver and Loveland were there to help me out and clean up the room and finish cutting the contact paper. The security guard was called, I don’t know why! And he was very freaked out about the whole ordeal, and saying I needed to go to the hospital, but he would not take me, which was fine, I had friends there, but I kept repeating how he would not take me. I think he was more freaked out about it than I was.

My friends got some gauze bandages, and wrapped my thumb, by this time everyone taking the workshop was there. I felt like I shouldn’t leave so I taught the workshop. Let me tell you, my thumb was killing me. I got through the three hour workshop and my friends insisted I go to the emergency room. I agreed, but that was a challeng, Breckenridge in October is the off season, nothing was open, and not even the hospital. Everyone told us everything shuts down until ski season. Finally we found an emergency room in Frisco, about 15 miles away. And the doctor was kind enough to give me five stitches, and tell me that my injury was considered an amputation!!!

That night was the big Saturday Night Bash and the theme was The Rocky Horror Show, but I didn’t bring anything to dress up, so my friends wouldn’t let me go without a costume, so my thumb became Senor Amputee!

Well, this was my last workshop that I taught; I’m starting to get ready for the next workshop that I’m teaching in Las Vegas at Clay Arts Vegas. And this nightmare has been on my mind, because in two weeks I will be teaching another workshop. Hopefully I will not repeat the same show as in Breckenridge!